WEDGE HOUSE

Square Footage: 1,938

Levels: 2

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms: 2 full, 1 half

Office: No

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Stunning and simple on the outside but rich and complex within, Wedge House offers dramatic interior spaces under a simple shed roof. Entering into a spacious mud room (that doubles as an airlock in cold climates) one moves through compressed spaces into the kitchen and dining areas that open up to a garden or to dramatic views. Here, flat ceilings give way to exposed beams and in the living room, to an unexpectedly tall, grand space. A large skylight and interior shutter to a second floor bedroom/office provide soft light and connectivity between levels. Built-in cabinetry gives the house an efficient, boat-like interior. From the central living room, one can continue through a blind door in the cabinetry to a master suite with a private outdoor garden, or up the bookcase-lined stair to two additional bedrooms and a bathroom. All of these volumes fit snuggly under the single roof slope.

Wedge House has a simple, unitary exterior form that defies its interior complexity. Asymmetric window placement complements the simple shape of the house. Pre-cut, modular structural insulated panels (SIPs) for the exterior walls reduce on-site construction time and provide a high degree of effective thermal insulation.

dramatic interior spaces under a simple shed roofThe main house “wedge” is clad in large, corrugated panels of Ondura or painted metal while the square garage is clad in corrugated translucent polycarbonate panels that admits soft light into areas of the garage. On the interior, a wood surface wraps certain floors, walls and ceilings to thematically separate public and private spaces.

Super-insulated walls and roof with hydronic radiant heated floors with passive/active stack-effect cooling. The drawings show a radiant-heated, insulated slab-on-grade foundation. The first floor could be designed with a wood-framed floor over a crawlspace or a basement with a basement stair located below the stair to the second floor. The garage door and pedestrian entrance could be reoriented on any of three sides of the garage for different site access conditions, or the garage could be replaced by a carport or eliminated entirely. The design features structural insulated panel wall and roof construction. These could be replaced with conventional framing and blown-in cellulose insulation if preferred. A vegetated (“green”) roof is also an option shown in the renderings. Owners should consult with local professionals, including a structural engineer, to access the viability of a sloped green roof in their region.